


Lamentation

by Ryuki



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 06:15:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12337110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryuki/pseuds/Ryuki
Summary: After being cleared of all charges, Julian decides to try to open up his own practice. However, Nadia denies him and Julian comes back to the shop, frustrated and angry. Xixa talks him through it… and then some. Sort of. (There’s making out and references to past sex, but no full-on smut.)





	Lamentation

The bell on the front door jingled lightly, a tinny warning of the approaching storm, and briefly sunlight fell into the shop. Outside sounds of a bustling city briefly flitted indoors. Xixa looked up from where her spot at the counter, where she was reading a tome on divination. Julian stormed in, face contorted into a scowl and his black coat flying out behind him, like an aura of malevolence. Vaguely, Xixa wondered how many poor souls the doctor terrified on the way home.

Xixa didn’t get a chance to even ask him what was wrong, before he began extolling his troubles. As Julian paced the length of the small shop, anger and frustration bubbled the words out of his mouth, “I can’t believe her! Saying I’m not qualified to tend to the ill and injured. Insinuating I have to go back to school!”

“Who?” Xixa asked as she sought a makeshift bookmark – she settled on a piece of scratch paper with sigil designs – and closed her book.

“The Countess,” growled Julian, guttural with annoyance. He paced back, crossing in front of Xixa and nearly making it to the front door, again. His boots made hollow thumping sounds with each stomp. As he spoke, his arms gesticulated in broad gestures, careful to not knock over merchandise. “She told me I can’t open a new practice. Said my techniques are outdated with today’s medicine.”

He turned on his heel, pacing back again. “Granted, I was wanted for murder for a year and some months, but that’s been cleared up. And my memories were altered, but I am perfectly capable of tending to the ill and injured! Just ask the patrons at the Rowdy Raven! Why can’t she see I’m just trying to regain a life lost? Or am I still beyond forgiveness in out _dear_ Countess’s eyes?”

He paused, realizing Xixa had been utterly silent. Had she gone back to her book? Fear crept along his synapses as he turned to look at her, finding Xixa’s undivided attention on him. A tension Julian didn’t even realize he harbored eased. No, of course. Xixa wasn’t Asra. But… she hadn’t said a word.

“Do you have more to say?” Xixa asked.

A wave of foolishness crashed over Julian. Of course, Nadia wouldn’t allow him to open his own clinic. Xixa would remind him he was hot off the gallows, relinquished of a legal death sentence, but not of social backlash. Nadia, and others of particular sway, still harbored concerns and distrust of him. It wasn’t even certain if he’d get any patients. Xixa would say just that and go back to her book. Already feeling like a scolded child, Julian hunched his shoulders and muttered, “No...”

“I’m sorry,” Xixa sighed, getting up from her seat and coming around the counter to stand in front of Julian. “I wanted to make sure I didn’t interrupt. Plus, you’re adorable when agitated.”

Julian shot Xixa a wide-eyed look, a flush crawling over his face. A mingled sensation of delight – at her compliment – and annoyance settled in his chest. Was she going to totally dismiss his feelings? That was worse than being chided!

It didn’t help that Xixa gave him that wry smile of hers, a sister smile to the one that she gave him when she worked him up in – _ahem_ – other ways. The heat of his rage blended with a sharper, sleeker, heat. A heat that caused tingles to creep across his lower abdomen. He wanted to retain his anger, though, and he couldn’t do that looking at his lover. Tearing his gaze away, Julian glanced toward a shelf of incense.

Xixa couldn’t help her grin widening. She never grew tired of his bashful, gaze-averting expressions. Julian Devorak – the towering one-eyed plague doctor, still branded with the murder’s mark, who could charm his way through any bar in Vesuvia – had a bashful streak Xixa loved to stoke.

She pressed her hands to his upper arms, enjoying the feel of his jacket under her skin. Her hands skimmed down to the edge of his gloves, letting the rough fabric press into her skin. Still, he didn’t look at her.

Was he was angry she said that? Did he think she was brushing off his feelings? A little bubble of guilt rose up in Xixa’s mind, feeling as if she had mishandled the doctor. Though, Nadia wasn’t beyond spite, she did _try_ to have good reason for her decisions.

“Julian, I know being a doctor is important to you. You’re caring and want to help people. However, I see Nadia’s point.” Julian’s gaze snapped to her face, grey eye wide and ablaze with betrayal. He opened his mouth to protest, but Xixa held a finger to his lips. “I see her point, but I don’t agree. You’re smart, you can learn new techniques easily. Being a doctor has _never_ been a stagnant occupation. Plus, the basics of medicine probably haven’t changed over the last couple years.”

The tension in Julian’s shoulders eased a little, knowing Xixa hadn’t abandoned him. Yet, a small glimmer of dissatisfaction still tugged at his heart. She was giving weight to the Countess’s opinion on this. His shoulders slouched and his lips twisted into a petulant pout behind Xixa’s finger. Again, he averted his gaze.

When her answer didn’t seem to brighten Julian’s mood, Xixa nearly sighed. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear, but he was an adult and couldn’t be completely catered to. Still, she didn’t want him to mope. Determined, she continued as her hand dropped from his lips, “Or try something new? Singing, perhaps?”

“Oh, yes, I can see myself now, belting out an aria at the Rowdy Raven,” he rolled his eye. Though plenty at his haunt had heard him, he doubted he’d get too far into a whole set of songs before a beer bottle came hurtling at his face. “I’m sure they’d love it.”

“How about you work here, then?” Xixa motioned around the shop, as if illustrating her point. She smiled broadly, holding up her fingers and wiggling them, “I can teach you the Arcanaaa.”

“ _Asra_ would love that.” Julian’s eyebrows tilted down as a sneering smile parted his lips, imagining his ex-lover’s reaction to him learning tarot. It might be worth it, just for that.

Dropping her hands, Xixa tilted her head and sighed with a shrug, “Theater?”

Indignity plastered over his face as he straightened and pressed his hand to his chest. “Are you _implying_ I’m _overdramatic_?”

Oh, she wished to have a mirror at that moment. Instead, Xixa hummed and smiled, wrapping one arm around the back of his neck, fiddling with the coils of his hair. Her eyes focused on his lips, sending a heat searing down Julian’s spine. The warmth intensified as she brushed her fingers against his lips. “One of my fondest memories involves you standing atop an aqueduct, lamenting people becoming immune to a plague and then proceeding to toss your doctor’s mask into a roiling red river below.”

She caught the doctor’s gaze, just as he bristled, “I was not _lamenting_!”

The way he put an emphasis on ‘lamenting’ made Xixa chuckle, “What were you doing, then, Julian?”

“Bemoaning life’s fickleness.” Even as he said it, he could _hear_ the melodrama of it all. He coughed and glanced away.

A soft laugh fell from Xixa’s lips as she shook her head. “Well, whatever you want to call it, it was oddly endearing.”

A sudden thrill shot through Julian at those words. The delight seared him deep, with a pleasant heat. It was slightly embarrassing how much such things meant to him, now. However, to know, even when he felt at a supreme low – and, maybe, being _a little_ dramatic – Xixa still found him charming… well, it sent a glow through his nerves.

Xixa grinned, watching the contemplative look of happiness cross Julian’s face. Now, that was better.

While he basked in the compliment, Xixa’s fingers toying with the curls at the back of his head gave a gentle tug. The sudden pull on his hair sent a shiver down his back, dragging him out of his thoughts. She pulled harder, eliciting a throaty whimper from his lips and coaxing his head back. He closed his eye, relishing in the slight pain and how, oh-so-slowly, carnal heat built up in his loins.

With his neck exposed, Xixa leaned forward, lips against his throat, his quickening pulse a tattoo on her tongue. His hands drifted to her sides, fingers digging into her hips, as she nipped along his neck. Wherever her lips landed, a jolt of sparks shot through his nerves. Another light moan hissed from Julian’s lips, the faded flush renewing across his face, making his ears tingle. His breathing became ragged and balmy It felt like the blush infused into his blood, heating his whole body with prickling sensations.

Xixa’s other hand slid down the front of his coat, undoing buttons with practiced precision. With just enough buttons undone, she slid her hand beneath the first layer of clothes and maneuvered passed his shirt. As soon as her fingertips met his skin, a light gasp left his lips. Xixa grinned against his neck - her own body warm with delight at the doctor’s sounds and little twitches of pleasure - and trailed her nails up his side, digging into him.

Julian’s gasped melted into a groan. He pulled Xixa closer, her body flush against his as he arched into her, grasping her hips tightly. His thoughts were a flurry of heat and hormones and excitement. Julian’s whole body throbbed with pleasure. He was impatient to be free of his clothes. Especially his damned tight pants.

Then Xixa pulled away.

Julian whimpered at the sudden loss of heat and attention. A chill settled over his skin, though a molten heat still roiled in him. Cracking his eye open, he quickly found her padding across the room, retrieving a traveling cloak. Disappointment and confusion dotted his thoughts as he followed after her.

“Xixa?”

“We can finish after I have a talk with Nadia.” She flashed him a teasing smile, her own cheeks flushed. There was a glint in her eyes that told Julian she planned to end their make-out session with him aching for more.

His lips twisted into a frown, still fighting with hormones from the kiss. Another part of him did want Xixa to go speak to the Countess on his behalf, but the pressure inside him wanted Xixa, as well. A war between hormones and practicality waged in his thoughts.

“You can come with me,” Xixa suggested as she swung the cloak over her shoulders.

A sudden, wolfish grin passed over his lips. “And find an empty guest room after we meet with the Countess?”

Xixa laughed, “Are you that eager to emotionally scar your sister, _again_?”

“Pasha knows we have sex, Xixa,” he replied, matter-of-factly.

“ _Obviously_ ,” Xixa sighed, a smile still on her lips as she clasped her cloak at her neck. Her tone continued with it’s teasing lilt, “But I don’t think she wants the visual, again, _Ilya_.”

Julian stopped buttoning up his own coat, his eye snapping to Xixa. Something shifted in the atmosphere. She paused, suddenly awkward of her movements. Slowly, she brought her gaze to his face. “Um, Julian?”

He was quiet for a breath. So quiet, they could hear the outside world creeping into their little shop through the closed door. Then, almost breathless, Julian murmured, “Say that again.”

Xixa tilted her head to the side, her brows lowering in concentration as she replayed her last words. Her eyes widened and her hand fluttered by her mouth, “Oh. Ilya?”

“That’s the first time you’ve used it.” He almost seemed to afraid to breathe. As if the moment was fragile or skittish and could disappear at any moment.

“Well, I just, I was mimicking Portia. She’s the only one who really calls you that. I mean, Asra has called you it before, too, but I never knew if I should.” Xixa stammered, face reddening as her fingers and eyes focused on the clasp of her cloak. She suddenly felt like the air in her lungs wasn’t enough. Was this cloak always so heavy? “I don’t know, it seemed really… really _intimate_.”

When she peeked up at Julian, he seemed at a loss. His eye wide, his mouth moving to form words, clamping shut, and then trying again. Finally, he shook his head, a broad smile overtaking his features. His shoulders shook with laughter as he brought a hand to his forehead, partially hiding his face.

“Am I hearing this right?” Julian asked, biting down his mirth. The thought that Xixa was too self-conscious about this somehow delighted him. He stroked his gloved hand down to his mouth, hiding his smile, pinning Xixa with an amused look. “The woman who has done _countless_ tawdry and illicit things to me – things that would make polite company faint – doesn’t think she’s familiar enough to use Ilya?”

Said like that, Xixa felt extremely silly. A tingle of embarrassment fluttered through her, mingled with the same old delight of seeing Julian in the throes of amusement. However, she couldn’t _let_ him get away with that. Narrowing her eyes and stepping forward, with a tight smile on her lips, Xixa leaned up on her tip toes.

“You watch your tongue, Julian ‘ _Ilya_ ’ Devorak,” Xixa replied, with mock annoyance, “Or I’ll show you real lamentation.”

Julian obligingly bent toward her, raising his eyebrows. “Oh?”

“Yeah, we won’t finish our pleasantries from earlier,” purred Xixa against his grin. A look of crestfallen horror crossed his face. She planted a swift peck on his lips before ducking out of the front door, heading toward the familiar path toward the palace. A few seconds later, the sound of the door being locked and Julian’s boots against the dirt rushed after her.


End file.
